“Eat fish? Eat your head!”
In response to Lu Ming's question, Li Yan rolled her eyes and shook her head, explaining, “That is a minor blessed land called the Spirit Fish Pool, jointly created by the two major Divine Ability Clans of Qingyuan Ward, the Li and Yan families, along with five other slightly weaker clans.”
“Inside the Spirit Fish Pool, we raise a species called the golden-eyed spirit fish. These spirit fish are exceptionally delicate and have extremely strict requirements for their growth environment. Every year, our Divine Ability Clans have to pool together and throw hundreds of thousands of heavenly gold sand into it just to raise them.”
“These golden-eyed spirit fish contain extremely pure heaven and earth primordial energy, and they taste absolutely exquisite. If consumed, they can increase one's primordial energy. Especially for Grand Divine Ability Practitioners, the boost provided by a single spirit fish is even better than a Dharma Inscription Pill. Moreover, its effects are gentle, so there is no need to worry about the accumulation of pill toxins.”
“Therefore, when the season arrives every year, the Li and Yan families will gather those few Divine Ability Clans, and each will be allocated a few slots to enter the Spirit Fish Pool to fish for the spirit fish, each relying on their own ability.”
Lu Ming was dumbfounded. Throwing hundreds of thousands of heavenly gold sand every year just to raise fish? These Divine Ability Clans were way too extravagant!
“A Dharma Inscription Pill is only about a thousand heavenly gold sand. How many fish do they have to catch every year just to break even?” Lu Ming calculated the investment and return. If the only advantage was being comparable to a Dharma Inscription Pill, it felt completely unprofitable no matter how he looked at it.
“Heh, your way of thinking is quite unique.” Li Yan found it a bit amusing. When ordinary people heard this news, their focus was always on the benefits of the golden-eyed spirit fish, yet this kid was here calculating the cost and investment.
“Being comparable to a Dharma Inscription Pill is just one aspect. Aside from that, there are naturally other benefits. For instance, if you consume a golden-eyed spirit fish and absorb its refined primordial energy, there is an extremely low probability of obtaining an ability called Golden Pupils.”
“Golden Pupils? What do they do?” Lu Ming was a bit surprised. It sounded like something that would make one's eyes glow with golden light.
“Golden Pupils can see through miasmas and allow you to observe the flow of heaven and earth primordial energy with the naked eye. Don't underestimate this ability. If you're in the Black Rain Zone, it might play an unexpected role,” Li Yan said.
Lu Ming came to a realization and couldn't help but marvel. Was this the kind of cultivation resource exclusive to Divine Ability Clans? It was indeed powerful. Despite living in Qingyuan Ward for so many years, he had truly never heard of this Spiritual Fish Feast. Lu Jin might have known, but he had never mentioned it either. After all, there was no point in mentioning it.
“How many people have obtained this Golden Pupils ability over the years?”
“The Spiritual Fish Feast has been held for fifteen years now, and only three people have obtained the Golden Pupils. One of them happens to be Jing Yi.”
Lu Ming was somewhat surprised. He had never heard Jing Yi mention this. Furthermore, only three people with Golden Pupils in fifteen years—the probability was far too low.
“She thought the Golden Pupils didn't look good, so she probably never showed them in front of you.”
“Uh...”
Lu Ming was speechless. For the sake of vanity, a girl could actually hide away such a practical ocular technique and never use it.
“Our Li family and the Yan family are the largest investors. Every year when the Spiritual Fish Feast begins, we both receive five slots. To protect the spirit fish, the fishers who enter can only be Grand Divine Ability Practitioners,” Li Yan continued.
“And this year, I will give one of those slots to you.”
Lu Ming hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “I cannot accept a reward without merit. Besides, Aunt Li, if you do this, it might be difficult for you to explain to your clan.”
“You heard that girl's message earlier. She has never begged me, her mother, for anything over the years. Now that she has spoken up, no matter how difficult it is, as her mother, I will do my utmost to satisfy her.”
“And you don't need to find it hard to accept. In truth, every time those Divine Ability Clans participate in the Spiritual Fish Feast, it isn't necessarily just their own clan members who go. Sometimes, they also hire external help to try and catch more golden-eyed spirit fish.”
“Furthermore, giving you this slot is not entirely without conditions,” Li Yan said with a faint smile.
“Oh? What conditions?”
“The first three golden-eyed spirit fish you catch must be handed over to our Li family. Any harvest after that will belong to you. If you can't even gather three golden-eyed spirit fish by the end, then I'll have to charge you a slot fee.”
Lu Ming blinked. “How much is the slot fee?”
“About ten thousand heavenly gold sand,” Li Yan said casually.
Lu Ming's lips twitched. If he didn't trust Li Yan's character, he would even suspect she was setting a trap to swindle him. A slot fee of ten thousand heavenly gold sand was nearly a year's worth of revenue for the former Thunderfire Hall.
“Is this golden-eyed spirit fish very difficult to catch?” Lu Ming asked, feeling a bit apprehensive.
“It's not easy. The golden-eyed spirit fish hide in the deep crevices of the Spirit Fish Pool and love to feed on primordial energy. Therefore, fishers must transform their own primordial energy into bait to lure them. Generally speaking, catching three is considered a pass,” Li Yan said.
Lu Ming nodded. This was to be expected. If it were easy, those other Divine Ability Clans wouldn't go to the trouble of hiring external help.
“Thank you, Aunt Li. I will keep this favor in mind. Although I'm in no position to speak of repayment right now, if I have the ability in the future, I will definitely repay you.” Lu Ming fell silent for a few breaths, ultimately not refusing again.
Now that the Golden Gang Sword Hall was pressing the Thunderfire Hall at every turn, he indeed needed to think of every possible way to increase his own strength and help his family.
As for the condition Li Yan mentioned, he understood in his heart that it was nothing more than her way of easing his reluctance.
“I'm not looking for your repayment.” Li Yan smiled gently, and then sighed with a complex expression. She actually didn't know if maintaining the relationship between the two youngsters in this manner was appropriate. After all, if she were to rely purely on cold logic, using these matters to force Lu Ming and Jing Yi to cut ties might actually be the most correct path.
Only when Jing Yi severed these attachments could she go further.
Unfortunately, she ultimately could not bring herself to be so ruthless.
And although Lu Ming had now awakened a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, which was considered top-tier talent in Qingyuan Ward, it was still not enough.
When she sent the letter to Jing Yi this time, she had also sent one to Jing Yi's father, briefly mentioning that Lu Ming possessed a High-grade Divine Ability Bone. However, Jing Yi's father had only given a flat response:
“A High-grade Divine Ability Bone? A moment ago, a High-grade Divine Ability Bone seed sent from a branch family to cultivate here was just kicked back to the branch family because his cultivation progress was subpar.”
Knowing his attitude, Li Yan said no more.
“The Spiritual Fish Feast is expected to take place in four days. Go back and make your preparations. On that day, I will have Li Shuang pick you up,” Li Yan said.
Lu Ming nodded in agreement, then took his leave, meeting up with Lu Jin and the others to return.
On the way back, he also informed Lu Jin and the others about the Spiritual Fish Feast.
Lu Jin remained silent for a long while before saying, “The debt of gratitude we owe her is truly growing larger and larger.”
“Forget it, when debts pile up, there's no use worrying about them. Just keep this favor in your heart. Right now, we indeed do not have the qualifications to repay it, but in the future, who is to say this favor won't be the most successful investment the Li family has made since its founding?”
By the end of his words, Lu Jin also smiled with a bit of pride, as if he could already see the Divine Ability Child of his family becoming invincible in the world, reigning supreme as an emperor.
“Grandfather, you're exaggerating a bit too much.”
Lu Ming felt his face turn slightly red from the excessive praise.
“Haha, who can say for sure what will happen in the future?”
Lu Jin laughed, and then shifted the topic. “In addition, you took it upon yourself to accept the Li family's order of four hundred Moon Spirit Grass stalks for the second half of the year. Can you really mature them? The remaining Moon Spirit Grass in the medicinal garden is younger and younger, which seems even more troublesome to mature.”
It had been hard for him to speak of this in front of outsiders earlier, but now he was a bit worried.
“Don't worry, Grandfather. Although it will take some time, fortunately, we have plenty of time. With some hard work, we should be able to complete it,” Lu Ming said.
“After all, no matter what, we couldn't let Lin Changkong benefit. If he had really secured this purchasing quota, I would truly find it hard to eat or sleep in peace, and my state of mind would be completely blocked.”
Lu Jin nodded, a comfortable smile appearing in his eyes as well. “Lin Changkong went for wool and came home shorn this time. To target our Thunderfire Hall's medicinal garden, he specifically converted one of his own medicinal gardens to cultivate Moon Spirit Grass. I imagine he must be absolutely furious right now.”
Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei both laughed heartily. From now on, probably no one in Qingyuan Ward would dare compete with their Thunderfire Hall over Moon Spirit Grass. With all of Lin Changkong's scheming, he had ended up digging a pit and falling into it himself.
“He probably won't let this go easily,” Lu Ming murmured, his eyes deep in thought.
Lu Jin nodded and said, “We must be more on guard. Right now, he is strong and we are weak, so we indeed have to appear somewhat passive. But I believe the day we turn the tables is not too far off.”
Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei nodded in agreement.
Lu Ming's gaze pierced through the carriage window, casting far toward the direction where the Golden Gang Sword Hall was located, a fierce glint flickering in the youth's eyes.
You bastard, just you wait.
Once his strength was sufficient, the first person he slaughtered would be Lin Changkong!
Rate on N.U.
